Armor for flexible articles.



C. BARBOUR.

ARMOR FOR FLEXIBLE ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 13. I914.

1,155,460. 7 Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

wrmzsszs l INVENTOR 40 armor.

UNITED sTATn-s PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES BABBOUR, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T STANDARD UNDERGROUND CABLE COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPO- RATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

Continuation of application Serial No. 748,752, filed February 15, 19-13. This application filed November 13, 1914. Serial No. 871,881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES BARBOUR, residing at Pittsburghyin the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, a cltlzen of the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Armor for Flexible Articles, of which improvements the following is a specification;

This application, as far as there is common subject-matter in the two cases, is a continuation of my application Serial No. 748,752, filed February 15, 1913.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and effective means for locking upon flexible articles, such as cables, hose, etc, a helical wrapping of flexible and re- .silient metal, such metal wrapping being used as a protecting armor for the article,

and the locking means being such as will not diminish the flexibility of the article.

-A further object of my invention is to increase the practical usefulness of metal armor of this character when it is used to pro- Y tect flexible articles, which, after being man- 30,tion. Each of the three figures show short sections of electrical conductor cables with .locked. armor applied thereto.

'In the practice of my invention in its preferred form the armor consists of a helical wrapping of a strip or strips of flexible and at the same time resilient metal, and the locking of the armor is effected by providing a secondhelix of wire, preferably, although not necessarily, incased within the The opposite ends of the locking wire are attached in a suitable manner to the opposite ends of the armo strip so that ,the unwinding and consequentilhckening of such strip will be resisted by the locking wire.

Thearmor may be formed of anydesired number of strands which may be ofany suitable cross-sectional configuration. In the embodiment of my invention illustrated I in Figure 1 a single strip of semi-circular of the single strip 1, while in F ig. 2 thereare two locking wires 6 and 6* having their opposite ends secured to the armor strips 2 and 2*, respectively. ()r, as in Fig. 3, there may be a single locking wire 7, each end of which is secured to the ends of all the armor strips, in this case the two strips 3 and 3. Also the locking wireor wires may be wound in the opposite direction to that of the armor strip or strips, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or in the same direction as is illustrated in Fig. 3. When wound in the same direction as the armor it is essential that the locking wire be incased within, and be at a materially greater pitch than, the armor strip. 4

The ends of the locking wires may be secured to the ends of the armor strips in any desired manner. The connection .8 at the left end of Fig. 1 is effected by bending the end of the locking wire back upon, and soldering it to, the armor strip, whereas, in.

all other instances shown herein, the locking wire is twisted around the otherwisefree ends of the armor strips. To effect such connections, after the armored flexible article has been cut to a desired length, a portion of the armor strips or wires are unwound and cut off, leaving a short length of the locking wire available for such manner of connection as may be desired.

While the armor which I have shown and described may be used to protect, various forms of flexible articles, I find it particularly applicable for such electrical cables as are-used in wiring automobiles, motor boats and like structures.

I claim as my invention:

1. An envelop for a flexible article consisting of an inner helix of resilient wire coiled at one pitch, and an outer helix of resilient wire coiled at a materially less pitch than the inner helix, said helices being united at their ends.

2. An envelop for a flexible article consisting of two helices of resilient Wire coiled in dopposite directions and united at their en s.

8. The combination with a flexible article, of a protecting armor comprising a resilient wire coiled around said article, and a looking wire extending spirally around said article at a pitch materially greater than that of said armor, the locking wire being Within said armor.

4. The combination with a flexible article, of a protecting armor comprising a resilient wire coiled around said article, and a locking wire coiled at a pitch materially greater than that of said armor and in an opposite direction thereto, said locking wire being incased within and held against movement by said armor.

5. The combination with a flexible article,

of a protecting armor comprising a plurality of resilient wires coiled around said article, and a corresponding number oflocking wires extending spirally around said article and at a pitch materially greater than that of the armor, each of-said locking wires being secured to the free end of one of said armor coils.

Intestimony whereof I have hereunto set 

